Credit Card Competition Act..Goodbye Credit Card points

[jim barclay]

Seems like this will go though, not sure if its good or bad, but i might not travel first class anymore!

What is the Credit Card Competition Act? - The Points Guy

Here's where the proposed legislation stands in Congress and how it could affect credit card rewards.

thepointsguy.com

 

[Leeea]

This is competition in the marketplace, which is a good thing.

Credit card fees also punish consumers who pay with cash or check. Most merchant agreements include a clause that says we are not allowed to charge more for a credit card via other forms of payment.

<- bias note: is a small merchant who paid a bit over $13,000 in credit card fees last year

Seems like this will go though, not sure if its good or bad, but i might not travel first class anymore!

What is the Credit Card Competition Act? - The Points Guy

Here's where the proposed legislation stands in Congress and how it could affect credit card rewards.

thepointsguy.com

If it is any consolation, I have never been able to travel first class in my life.

 

[pete6032]

This is competition in the marketplace, which is a good thing.

Credit card fees also punish consumers who pay with cash or check. Most merchant agreements include a clause that says we are not allowed to charge more for a credit card via other forms of payment.

<- bias note: is a small merchant who paid a bit over $13,000 in credit card fees last year



If it is any consolation, I have never been able to travel first class in my life.

Seeing people in their early 20s flying first class while I drag myself on yet another business trip in coach makes me wonder what I did wrong in life haha.

 

[Zorba]

Seeing people in their early 20s flying first class while I drag myself on yet another business trip in coach makes me wonder what I did wrong in life haha.

Go to work for an airline. I used to know interns that flew all around the world first class, basically for free. My airline had a dress code for employees traveling too, so they all just looked like rich kids.

 

[quikah]

This forces banks to add a second network to their cards aside from visa or mastercard. Such as? What other network would they be able to add? Would Amex and Discover want to allow this? The only other network big enough to support this would be maybe Unionpay, but that is China, goodluck getting that by anyone. What other network exists that would be able to support this?

 

[Pens1566]

Good for the merchants/business. Bad for CC companies, and anyone that benefits from points/rewards.

 

[hal2kilo]

This is competition in the marketplace, which is a good thing.

Credit card fees also punish consumers who pay with cash or check. Most merchant agreements include a clause that says we are not allowed to charge more for a credit card via other forms of payment.

<- bias note: is a small merchant who paid a bit over $13,000 in credit card fees last year



If it is any consolation, I have never been able to travel first class in my life.

You haven't learned to use OPM then.

 

[biostud]

The credit card companies are earning tons of cash because there is no real competition in the market. They then hands out a tiny fraction of their earnings back to the customers and make them feel special.
Here in Denmark we have (besides the international cards) a card that is regulated by law, where the fees are usually 5-10 times cheaper than the international brands. Oh the horrors of socialism.

 

[Leeea]

You haven't learned to use OPM then.

I have no idea what opm even is.

 

[Leeea]

Seeing people in their early 20s flying first class while I drag myself on yet another business trip in coach makes me wonder what I did wrong in life haha.

for me it is redeeming the points toward a statement credit right back toward my bill.

A simple matter of priorities. Choosing not to engage with the points based marketing machine.

 

[gorobei]

hmm sounds like the measure prevents the duopoly from forcing merchants to lock in. seems fine, and i suspect every mcdonalds franchisee wishes there was a similar law regarding soft serve icecream machines and mandatory contracts.

 

[Puffnstuff]

If it is any consolation, I have never been able to travel first class in my life.

I traveled once as a private first class....does that count?

 

[iRONic]

I have no idea what opm even is.

Other people’s money.

 

[manly]

for me it is redeeming the points toward a statement credit right back toward my bill.

A simple matter of priorities. Choosing not to engage with the points based marketing machine.

Do you ever take advantage of your CC rewards points? If not, you may benefit more from a straight cashback card. Citi has a 2% back card which is hard to beat. In general, redeeming points as statement credit minimizes the value of those points.

TPG is a good site, but that article doesn't necessarily say that CC rewards would vanish. What it mainly says is there will be unintended consequences (maybe intended if you're the GOP). Banks that lose on swipe fees will likely try to recoup that revenue from customer classes least likely to resist: lower and middle class checking accountholders. The article does suggest airline co-branded cards may be impacted as well.

The fact that banks are fighting this the hardest tells you whether this legislation is favorable public policy.

 

[iRONic]

Go to work for an airline. I used to know interns that flew all around the world first class, basically for free. My airline had a dress code for employees traveling too, so they all just looked like rich kids.

I can’t even remember some of the places I non-rev’d to when I was an A&P for a NJ based commuter! Flash my BDL employee badge at the gate, if there’s open seats away we went.

One winter my ex-wife and I hit Vegas 4 weekends just for the helluvit!

 

[hal2kilo]

I have no idea what opm even is.

Other people's money. I include my employer in that list.

 

[akugami]

This is competition in the marketplace, which is a good thing.

Credit card fees also punish consumers who pay with cash or check. Most merchant agreements include a clause that says we are not allowed to charge more for a credit card via other forms of payment.

<- bias note: is a small merchant who paid a bit over $13,000 in credit card fees last year



If it is any consolation, I have never been able to travel first class in my life.

Most states allow credit card surcharges now. Very few ban it at this point.

As a consumer, I am not a fan of cc surcharging. And as someone familiar with the industry, I see merchants reverse their decision to do cc surcharging, because of lost business.

Also, and this is a word game, but you can give a cash discount, which effectively surcharges credit card transactions.

 

[akugami]

Good for the merchants/business. Bad for CC companies, and anyone that benefits from points/rewards.

Be very careful about these types of proposals. The Durbin Amendment was supposed to help reduce fees, but wound up doing the opposite for many small businesses. Visa, MC, Disc, and Amex have very high priced lawyers and bean counters looking for loopholes.

For those who know about the Durbin Amendment, the goal was to reduce debit card interchange rates. It actually had the opposite effect for most small businesses. The Durbin Amendment put a cap on the fees allowed for debit card transactions. These fees were/are still variable. But since there's a max cap, merchants are now usually charged the maximum allowed.

Prior to the Durbin Amendment, small merchants usually paid a smaller fee for pin debit transactions. The opposite happened, where most small businesses were now charged more for pin debit transactions.

Larger businesses did benefit, but I'm not crying for the C-suite if Wallyworld or Target pays a little more in fees. I do feel bad for the smaller businesses, the mom & pops that suffered from this badly thought out legislation.

 

[Leeea]

Do you ever take advantage of your CC rewards points? If not, you may benefit more from a straight cashback card. Citi has a 2% back card which is hard to beat. In general, redeeming points as statement credit minimizes the value of those points.

That is interesting. I never take advantage of the points, so yea, the cash back aspect would be it. Perhaps someday when I feel bored it would be something to look into. The card I have already gives me 2% some categories (gas, food, travel), but 1% for the rest.


Most business purchases are either Amazon 5% credit card cash back, or local business credit line. Credit cards are rarely used for local business transactions, and Amazon just dominates anything ordered online. For me, their customer service is very, very good.

 

[Moonbeam]

That is interesting. I never take advantage of the points, so yea, the cash back aspect would be it. Perhaps someday when I feel bored it would be something to look into. The card I have already gives me 2% some categories (gas, food, travel), but 1% for the rest.


Most business purchases are either Amazon 5% credit card cash back, or local business credit line. Credit cards are rarely used for local business transactions, and Amazon just dominates anything ordered online. For me, their customer service is very, very good.

I love Amazon. I buy all sorts of shit on there so I can use the 5% back to get computer parts free. Just got a nice Lian Li case that way.

And, I forgot, Alexa sings me a lullaby and turns out the light when it's Beddy-Bye time.

 

[Leeea]

I love Amazon.

I have deeply mixed feelings about Amazon.

Their dominance in the online retail space is unhealthy, and the way they treat their workers questionable.



However, their customer service is exceptional for me. No other vender would put me in direct call with warehouse supervisor to get me my couch on time in the middle of covid. Their shipping times to my area is just superior.

And the simple truth is I don't have time to drive over and sit in line at the walmart self checkout to help out a different company that abuses its workers with timer based tasks. It is not like the choice is between "good local business" and "bad evil corporation", the choices are "evil corperation 1" vs "evil corporation 2". That and the quality of the stuff on Amazon is better then walmart. Even with the counterfeits.

 

[Moonbeam]

I have deeply mixed feelings about Amazon.

Their dominance in the online retail space is unhealthy, and the way they treat their workers questionable.



However, their customer service is exceptional for me. No other vender would put me in direct call with warehouse supervisor to get me my couch on time in the middle of covid. Their shipping times to my area is just superior.

And the simple truth is I don't have time to drive over and sit in line at the walmart self checkout to help out a different company that abuses its workers with timer based tasks. It is not like the choice is between "good local business" and "bad evil corporation", the choices are "evil corperation 1" vs "evil corporation 2". That and the quality of the stuff on Amazon is better then walmart. Even with the counterfeits.

I was just having some fun with self deprecation. The subject was cash back and reactions to it. I just wanted to show the stupidity of the notion that the more money you spend the more you get back free, me buying lots of stuff to get computer parts free. Cash back is all well and good but much better would be to pay less in the first place. How many people earn cash back and never collect? I lost 1800 dollars that way because of a time window I didn't know about. Thought I would let it ride and buy an espresso machine. But first I need a new kitchen with more counter space. I also got my points refunded as cash, by the way.

 

[A///]

Seeing people in their early 20s flying first class while I drag myself on yet another business trip in coach makes me wonder what I did wrong in life haha.

they are likely influencers or some equally stupid "profession" where they get paid to do these things or get freebies or they sell their bodies to scraggy old men and women.

 

[pete6032]

I work for a Fortune 1000 and they won't cover the cost to check a bag if you're flying domestic lol.

 

[Vic]

Nothing in the Credit Card Competition act does anything to rewards points. That's just propaganda being pushed by the major credit card companies so they can continue with their anti-competitive practices that squeeze small business owners.